So my dad met with the vascular surgeon this past Thursday. Basically, the fistula is probably going to take six more weeks before it is ready for dialysis. The vein has to get much larger and tougher before it can stand up to the dialysis machine. If he requires dialysis before that, then they can do an emergency jugular or subclavian access, but that can cause problems later down the road, so they want to avoid it is possible.

Dad is still getting short of breath just by walking across a room, so he has to rest frequently just to do simple tasks. He is still dealing with swelling in his feet and legs, and that seems to come and go. The more he is able to rest and keep his feet elevated, the better he does.

I have my evaluation at Emory on Tuesday. Please pray that the tests go well. We are hopeful that everything will work out so that we can move forward with the transplant before Dad has to start dialysis.

I called and talked to my dad this morning. The swelling in his legs is down a bit. He said that he has been sitting in a chair a lot with his feet up and that has helped. He is still very short of breath, and has trouble even talking, much less doing anything else. He has an appointment tomorrow to see the doctor about the fistula. Once I know what is going on, I will post an update. Your continued prayers are appreciated!

I have been getting some email messages from my mom and wanted to share some of the news. As I mentioned in a previous post, my parents went on a mission trip to Tennessee with their church. They worked on a house for an elderly gentleman that has a monthly income of about $350. If this post seems long, skip to the end and read the last message from my mom.

On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 10:24 PM, Dian Tully wrote:

Phil did well today.  He rested just a little while this afternoon and did better than I thought he would
Thanks for your prayers.
We did a lot of work today at the site.
Will update tomorrow

On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 9:40 PM, Dian Tully wrote:

Hey there,
We had a good day again today.  The job site where we are working is on a hill with very few trees so it has really been difficult for the team working in the sun.  we are replacing the siding on the whole house.  replacing the linoleum in the den and hall and kitchen and tore down and built an 8×12 deck. we also tore down and built a new ramp into the kitchen.  We said our thank you prayers every time we walked on it before it was replaced.
I started this morning cleaning the kitchen, washing all the dishes, and scrubbing the cabinets, refrigerator and the rest of the kitchen.  Two other ladies worked with me all morning.  We still have half of the siding to finish tomorrow but if we all work together I think we can get it all finished.
It has been extremely hot.  It was 99 when Phil got in the truck to go back to the motel this afternoon.
He has done well and has been good about resting.
We get up eat breakfast and leave the hotel by around 7:30 each morning so we can work while it is still a little bit cool.
Pray we get it all done tomorrow.
We will leave around 9 am Friday.
Love yall

On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 9:49 PM, Dian Tully  wrote:

Well we will leave to go home in the morning.  God has been so good to give us good work days.
It has been extremely hot during the day while we were working on the house.  We completed the siding all the way around the house, completed the front porch, and the ramp to the back door going into the kitchen.
We also finished the linoleum in the hall and bedroom today.  Mr Johnny slept on his mattress with no sheets so we bought him a set of sheets with a mattress cover and a pretty little blanket.  We cleaned walls and I went ahead and tackled the bathroom and it smells a whole lot better 🙂
We were all hot and tired at the end of the day and exhausted, but it was well worth it.  Mr Johnny prayed to receive Christ this morning.  Yesterday he and I were talking and he told me he hoped he would go to heaven and I told him he could be sure.  I felt that it would be better for one of the men to talk to him so this morning three of the men went there early to get started on the job while it was cool and begin to talk to him and he said he wanted to pray to receive Christ.  That made it all worth while.  Two of the older girls and I went prayer walking up and down the road this morning praying for the people in his little mountain community.  Pray for Mr Johnny to go to church with a neighbor up the road and be faithful reading his Bible.
Phil has done well.  He has had some pretty bad swelling but has felt pretty good and has tried not to push himself too much.
Hope yall had a good day.
Love yall

What is your story? You may find my story to be interesting. Only one way to find out…

I was raised with the knowledge that debt is bad. Credit cards aren’t evil but they can create a world of hurt — fast. When I went off to college, I didn’t really think much about getting a credit card or two or three, and hey, I got a free t-shirt (and I still have one of them). I used the credit card to buy books, gas, and groceries. I always paid it off every month, or at least paid most of it. That first time I had to pay interest when I couldn’t afford to pay the balance was shocking. It shocked me into not buying anything I didn’t have to buy, and not buying anything I couldn’t afford to buy. I was a good credit card holder and followed that rule and paid my bill in full every month.

I had worked all through college, and with the help of my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) I was able to pay all my bills. That changed my senior year. My classes were harder and I didn’t make enough at my part time job to pay for everything on my end. I had to sign up for a student loan and I started using the credit card more. I found a credit card deal where I could get zero percent interest on all purchases for a year. What? I couldn’t believe it, FREE money! Since the money was free, I bought things that I didn’t need, but not on the credit card, with the little bit of cash that I had. Well, my usual bills came due, and I didn’t have cash to pay them, so I figured I could use some of that free money to pay for the bills, so I did. All said and done, I owed almost $12,000 at the end of my senior year on that credit card with zero percent interest, and I made the minimum payment every month. Well, when the year was up, I didn’t want to be stuck with 18% interest on twelve grand. I mean ouch, that is a lot of dough in interest! I did what any good graduating senior would do, I found another credit card deal that allowed me to transfer my credit card balances, and best of all, the new credit card had a twelve month zero percent interest rate on balance transfers.

I got a good job when I graduated, but now I had to start paying my student loan and this pesky credit card. With some hard work and a more credit card hopping, I was able to whittle down the debt. Now, eight years later, I am debt free (and have been for a few years), except for the house, and I am working on baby step 3. All said and done, I wish I would have found a way to avoid the credit cards in the first place. It would have been a lot easier to fill out more scholarship applications than it was working for years to pay off the debt I accumulated. It was really depressing to have to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, use dial-up for Internet, and do without cable TV for a couple of years, even with a really good job, so that I could pay for a power bill or high speed Internet bill from two or three years prior.

Everyone has a story. If you want to see more stories, click the link and enjoy.

If you want to learn how to get out of debt, and how to build wealth, consider taking the next step and attend Financial Peace University. If you are ready to jump in, Register Now! I have an earlier blog post with all the details.

So my dad has been planning a mission trip with his church for over a year now and made it safely to Tennessee. I really appreciate seeing churches that do missions here in the United States, and it is awesome to see what this church is doing for these people. They live in homes without power or running water, and the people can’t afford to fix the problems. Please pray that God gives my dad some of his best days while he is on this Mission trip. Pray that the work that this church is doing will bring honor and glory to God and that people will come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

This passage from James chapter 2 has been on my mind the last couple of days.

¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
(James 2:14-17, New King James Version)

There are many opportunities for us to step outside of our comfort zone and help others that are in need of basic necessities. It brings joy to my heart to have opportunities to do this when I am able, and I enjoy seeing the fruit of ministry when churches are able to serve those in their community and on the mission field, especially when the mission field is much closer to home than you would have thought.

I wanted to give you an update on the latest news for my dad, Phil.

Phil, is doing ok, but not great. He has days where he feels pretty good, and others where he doesn’t feel well at all. The transplant is important, but Phil is not in critical condition. As long as there are no complications, people with kidney failure can typically survive for years on dialysis. He is still waiting in the fistula implant to be ready, which takes 6-8 weeks, so he will likely be starting dialysis in 3 or 4 weeks.

I got a phone call late Friday afternoon from the transplant center and had to reschedule my evaluation. The new date is July 31st, two weeks later than originally anticipated. For the time being, we will just wait and see what happens and continue to pray for God’s will to be done.

Thank you for your prayers. If we need anything more, I will be sure to let you know.

Thanks,

Steven Tully

I will be facilitating a FPU class starting on September 9th at Calvary Chapel of Charleston. If you are interested in the class, you can register here. This is a ten week course on Sunday evenings at 6PM. Classes typically last about two hours, the first hour is a video by Dave Ramsey, and the second hour is group discussion. During this class the average family pays off $5300 in debt and saves $2700. If you want to learn how to dump debt and build wealth, register today!

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